While researchers probe deeper into understanding CCD, or colony collapse disorder, and beekeepers work harder to improve bee health, ordinary citizens can help the honeybee too.

New numbers suggest that bees may be bouncing back from yearly declines, but experts remain concerned about their future.

In the winter of 2006, millions of bees vanished from their hives without a trace. The epidemic set researchers scrambling to discover why honeybees were dying in record numbers -- and to stop the epidemic in its tracks before it spread further.

Honeybees pollinate about one-third of crop species in the U.S. If bee colonies were so severely affected by CCD that pollination stopped, could we lose these crops forever?

NATURE Online asked Dennis van Engelsdorp, Pennsylvania's acting state beekeeper, to comment on recent developments in the investigation into Colony Collapse Disorder.

In June 2008, NATURE checked in with Pennsylvania's acting state beekeeper, Dennis van Engelsdorp, for an update on the investigation into Colony Collapse Disorder.